Federal Personnel: Public Health Service Commissioned Corps Officers' Health Care for Native Americans

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on Public Health Service (PHS) Commissioned Corps officers and others who are involved in providing Native American health care through the Indian Health Service (IHS) or tribal associations, focusing on: (1) Corps Officers' historical involvement in providing health care to Native Americans; (2) the extent of nationwide participation in Native American health care by Corps officers and non-Corps providers in fiscal year (FY) 1996; (3) how health-care provider vacancies were filled in selected geographic areas--sections of Alaska, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma--and the number of such vacancies filled by Corps officers; (4) how tribal representatives, IHS officials, and medical facility staff in the locations GAO visited perceived Corps and non-Corps providers and their perceptions of the potential effects that converting Corps officers to civil service status might have on Native American health care; and (5) changes in the Native American health care system that might affect those providing health care to Native Americans, whether Corps or non-Corps personnel.